Musical instrument



R. w. CRAWFORD MUSIGAL INSTRUMENT July 18, 196i 2- Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledFeb. 17. 1958 INVENTOR.

RALPH I/V.

July 18, 1961 R. w. CRAWFORD 2,992,511

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Feb. 17, 1958 2- SheetS-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.finLP/v (C/Pawnee flTTOR/VEVS.

United States Patent 2,992,511 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Ralph W. Crawford,East Aurora, N.Y., assignor to Fisher-Price Toys, 'Inc., East Aurora,N.Y.

filed Feb. 17, 1958, Ser. 715,749

6 Claims. (Cl. 46-111) This invention relates to action toys and moreparticularly to a novel musical toy which is operable either by manualstriking thereof or automatically in response to trundling thereofacross a floor surface or the like.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improvedtoy of the character described whereby an improved music producingaction is obtained.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved toy employinga musical sound producing unit of the percussion bar or Xylophone type.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved toy asaforesaid which is so designed and constructed as to be adapted to befabricated relatively inexpensively.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved toy asaforesaid which is of mechanically simple and rugged construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved toy asaforesaid which is productive of improved musical tones.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thespecification hereinafter.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a toy embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II--II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear end elevational view of the toy of FIGS. 1, 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a modified form ofstriker component of the mechanism of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 of still another modified formof striker component.

As shown in the drawing, the invention is embodied in a toy Xylophonecomprising a pair of sills 1010 disposed in generally parallel relationand relatively assembled by means of a base board 12 and headed nails13. The sills mount strips of felt or the like as indicated at 1414which in turn supporttransversely disposed Xylophone bars 15 which areof graduated lengths so as to produce different musical notes whenhammered upon by means of a suitable striker, as is well known in thexylopone art. To maintain the bars 15 in operative position on the sillassembly, the bars are apertured as indicated at 16 so as to looselyengage headed nails 18 driven into the sills 10-10 as is alsoconventional.

The sills 10-10 are rollably supported for push or pull motivationacross a floor or similar supporting surface by means of axles 191'9 androllers or wheels 20; and as shown in FIG. 1 a pull cord 21 may beconveniently attached to one end of the base plate '12 and arranged tocarry at its other end a striker mallet 22. Thus, it will be appreciatedthat the toy may be pulled by means of the mallet handle by a childacross a floor or supporting surface, and that the mallet may also beemployed at will for hammering upon the Xylophone bars to providemusical notes in the manner of conventional playing of a Xylophone typemusical instrument.

As shown in the drawing herewith in FIGS. 1-2, the axles 19-19 arevariously equipped to provide automatic percussive actuations of themusical bars 15 whenever the toy is pushed or pulled across a supportingfloor or the like. For example, the axle at the left hand end of the toyas shown in FIGS. 1-2 is shown to be of square sectioned form andcarries in keyed relation thereon a cam device 26 which is adapted toperiodically throw upwardly, upon rotation of the axle 19, one end of apitman 28 which is pivoted to the sills 10-10 by means of a cross shaft29. From the free end of the pitman 28 a coil spring 30 extends, andterminates in a striker head 32 formed of hard wood or the like; and theparts are so dimensioned that as the axle '19 rotates the cam 26 thelatter periodically causes the striker 32 to be kicked upwardly intopercussive contact with the registering xylophone bar 15. The elasticnature of the spring 30 permits I the striker head to rebound smartlysubsequent to each hammering upon the bar 15, and otherwise imparts tothe striker head a lively action. In fact, the parts will preferably beso arranged that whenever the toy is idle with the cam 26 in top liftingposition as shown in FIG. 2, the striker head 32 will be slightly belowand clear of the bar 15. By virtue of arrangement the striker head 32tends to rebound more quickly from each percussive contact with the bar15, while the flexible nature of the spring 30 nevertheless provides foradequate transmission of the cam throw forces to the striker head to.

insure smart striking thereof against the plate 15.

FIGS. l-4 also illustrate another form of automatic striker actuationmechanism in conjunction with the axle 19 and terminates in a rightangle bent end portion 39 which slip-fits endwise into an eccentricbored portion of a rocker device 40 which is pivotally mounted betweenthe sills 1010 by means of a transverse pin 42. Thus, it will beappreciated that rolling motion of the toy across a floor or likesurface will cause the eccentric 36 to drive the connecting rod 38alternately toward the left and right as viewed in FIGS. 1, 2, 4-, thusoscillating the rocker 40 about the pin 42. Coil springs 44, 46 extendforwardly and rearwardly from the rocker 40 and carry correspondingstriker heads 48, 49 for periodic impingements upon the bars 15, as inthe manner of the striker head 32 referred to hereinabove.

To facilitate assembly of the toy construction the eccentric button 36may be separately fabricated of plastic material or the like, comprisingan integral fabrication, and used in conjunction with a spacer sleeve 50which loosely fits upon the axle 19 to complete the filling of the spacebetween the sills 10 -10 thereby maintaining the eccentric and pitmancomponents in proper alignment.

The eccentric button 36 can conveniently comprise, for example, acircular body portion having two, diametrically opposed peripheralflanges, integral therewith, one on each of the opposite sides thereof.The two peripheral flanges are segmental, extending along only a minorportion of the periphery, whereby eccentric 36 and eye portion 37 ofconnecting rod 38 are readily assembled by merely tilting one relativeto the other, and then slipping eccentric 36 into eye portion 37 withthe peripheral flanges alined in the direction of movement and with theflange intended to be positioned on the remote side of the eye portion37 being thereby inserted therethrough. Spacer sleeve '50 and theadjacent sill 10 act to preclude such tilting of eye portion 37 relativeto eccentric 36 as might otherwise result in accidental dis'assemblythereof.

FIG. 5 illustrates a modified form of striker arrangement wherein thepitman or rocker as indicated at 55 is provided with a plurality ofstriker carrying springs 56, 57 mounting striker heads 58, 59respectively. The springs are provided of assorted lengths so as todispose Patented July 18,1961

In this case the square sectioned axle 19 the striker heads to contactdifferent Xylophone bars. FIG. 6 illustrates a further modified form ofstriker arrangement wherein a single spring 60 extending from the rocker55 mounts a plurality of striker heads as indicated at 62, 64; thestriker heads being disposed on the spring 60 at different distancesfrom the rocker 55 so as to contact different Xylophone bars.

. I claim:

1. A musical toy comprising, at least two percussioncresponsive soundproducing devices mounted on a toy frame, means mounting said frame formovement across a supporting surface, automatic striker means includinga rocker device pivoted on said frame, resilient arm means mounted onsaid rocker device for movement therewith about the pivot axis thereof,at least two striker heads carried by said resilient arm means inalinement with different ones of said sound producing devices, andactuating means for oscillating said rocker device about its pivot axisto cause said striker heads to intermittently strike said soundproducing devices as said toy is moved along a supporting surface, saidrocker device providing a common support for said striker heads.

2. A toy as set forth in claim 1, wherein said resilient arm meanscomprises a common arm carrying both of said striker heads at spacedpoints therealong.

3. A toy as set forth in claim 1, wherein said resilient arm meanscomprise at least two resilient arms each carrying one of said strikerheads.

4. A toy as set forth in claim 3, wherein said resilient arms projectlaterally from the same side of said rocker device.

5. A toy as set forth in claim 3, wherein said resilient arms projectlaterally from opposite sides of said rocker device.

6. A musical toy comprising, a percussion-responsive sound producingdevice supported on a frame, axle means journaled on said frame andWheel means carried by said axle means for rolling said toy across asupporting surface, a rocker device pivoted on said frame, a resilientarm mounted on said rocker device for movement therewith about the pivotaxis thereof, a striker head carried by said resilient arm in alinementwith said sound producing device for striking the same, and means foroscillating said rocker device about said pivot axis to cause saidstriker to intermittently strike said sound producing device as said toyis rolled along a supporting surface, said lastnamed means including aneccentric carried by said axle means for rotation therewith, and aconnecting rod journaled adjacent one end thereof on said eccentric,said eccentric comprising a body member loosely receiving said one endof said connecting rod therearound, and substantially diametricallyopposed segmental flange parts projecting generally radially from saidbody member on opposite sides thereof and loosely confining saidconnecting rod end thereon, said connecting rod being eccentricallypivotally connected adjacent the other end thereof to said rocker deviceand thereby translating rotation of said eccentric into oscillation ofsaid rocker device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ItalyAug. 22, 1952

